"The dog ate my shoes." "Traffic was bad again." "My alarm clock didn't go off." Excuses for behavior can vary from the outrageous to the mundane -- but, regardless of the believability of the justifications, they serve the same purpose of distracting the manager from the fact that an employee was late again. While a one-time incident may be overlooked, small-business owners cannot afford to accept excuses for ongoing performance problems. In a small organization, other employees quickly notice when excuses are allowed. By tolerating excuses, you create a culture of avoidance rather than responsibility.

Lead by example. Do not make excuses for yourself or others and do not allow employees' excuses to distract you from the facts of the situation. Take action quickly to deal with the problem behavior. If you allow poor performance to slide because of an employee's excuse, other staff will notice this approach and do the same thing.

Take no responsibility for and do not give advice regarding an employee's personal problems. You are not responsible for the employee's personal life. Instead, focus on work-related issues. Refer the worker to the employee-assistance program to deal with personal issues and avoid the temptation to fall into the counselor or parental role.

Focus on solutions, not causes. Emphasize that the behavior has already happened, and no amount of excuses will change what has already occurred. Inform the employee that you are not interested in the reasons why the behavior occurred; your focus is on ensuring that it does not happen again.

Ask the employee to generate ideas to solve the problem and prevent future instances of the behavior. Do not take responsibility for finding a solution. Clarify that the employee is responsible for ensuring that the problem behavior does not continue.

Take action quickly to deal with the problem behavior. Demonstrate to the employee and others within the business that consequences exist, regardless of excuses.

Tip

If the problem behavior continues, focus on the reasons why the employee's proposed solution did not work. Place the onus on the employee to develop a new solution that effectively addresses the issue.

About the Author

For more than a decade, Tia Benjamin has been writing organizational policies, procedures and management training programs. A C-level executive, she has more than 15 years experience in human resources and management. Benjamin obtained a Bachelor of Science in social psychology from the University of Kent, England, as well as a Master of Business Administration from San Diego State University.